Rant: I spent a year writing every prompt as a question and my workshop finally called it out | Creative Writing Prompts

Jesse Lewis · 2026-10-26T07:20:03.75384+00:00

Last Tuesday at the library workshop in Akron, a guy named Pete read my piece and asked why every line I write sounds like a survey. I looked back at six months of prompts in my notebook and every single one started with "what if" or "have you ever," like I was scared to just make a statement. I did it because questions felt safe and easy to answer, but Pete said it made my stories read like a quiz instead of a scene. So now I'm trying to start prompts with plain statements and see where they go, like "the last bus leaves at 11" instead of "what would you do if you missed the bus." Anyone else catch a habit like this in their own prompts, and how did you break it?

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Rant: I spent a year writing every prompt as a question and my workshop finally called it out | Creative Writing Prompts - The Community Guide